Sunday 8 April first time visit to Etherow CP, what a nice pocket of ancient woodland I never knew was there. As usual in the NW though - Himalayan balsam and Japanese knotweed everywhere.
Wondering if it's redstart/pied fly/wood warbler territory?
There was a female sparrowhawk hunting round the big warehouse by the car park, where there were also 4 sand martins shadowing it when it flew higher up.
In the woodland loads of blue tit, several chiffchaff and treecreeper, 4 great spotted woodpecker, ravens heard, 2 buzzards over the forest to the east.
On the river/canal, 1 dipper, 2 grey wagtail, 2 mute swan, loads of mandarin, one Egyptian goose. Also 2 goosander.
Will have to go back in a few weeks.

During the late 1970s and early 80s there were some fairly high counts during the much harsher winters.

On 13/1/1979 I had 48 Tufted Duck all visible from the hide. All still water was frozen on that day and even parts of the river. There were also 22 Teal and 5 Pochard on the river. I counted 48 Tufted Duck again on 1/2/1979.

During the late 1970s and early 80s there were some fairly high counts during the much harsher winters.

On 13/1/1979 I had 48 Tufted Duck all visible from the hide. All still water was frozen on that day and even parts of the river. There were also 22 Teal and 5 Pochard on the river. I counted 48 Tufted Duck again on 1/2/1979.

Mandarin c. 10 - well down on this time last yearSparrowhawk in the car parkEgyptian Goose at Keg PoolSurprise Tawny Owl flying around in the woods near Keg Pool around noon and perching in the open!Weir in spate so no Dipper activity

Really testing conditions which I thought might have brought something unusual in, but hadn't really. The following were recorded as notable.

Lodge:

20 tufted duck (14 male); possibly a site record?

18 cormorants (at least).

6 goosander (4 male)

River Hide:

pr of goosander

1 dabchick, a real scarcity in the park these days

1 snipe; attempted to land on mud bank (covered in ice), but flew off up river at once. A first for me here after 33 years of visits!

No sign of teal or water rail, which with carrion crows and a grey heron patrolling where it had been is perhaps understandable. Only saw 5 small passerines in total (robin, blackbird, wren, long-tailed tit, goldfinch), all singles.

One of the park's Holy (G)rails this afternoon, from the now reopened hide. A water rail on the far bank of the river giving good views well before dusk. Also 9 teal on the river, 14 cormorants on the mill lodge, dipper from the weir bridge, and two ravens over. All in all, a very productive pm.

33+ mandarin2 Goosander 7 tufted duck1 great crested grebe 1 little grebeClose views of a kingfisher on the canal, the same or another seen near pump house later on.2 dipper near the weir another seen flying up stream from the hide. There was actually 2 black bags outside of the boarded up hide.The 4 muscovy ducks were on the path between canal & pool & were not even bothered by my presence ( nigel, not quiet sure where there from but I get the impression that they have been there for some time) there is something about them though, despite there looks 1 raven, over1 grey wagtail 2 pied wagtailNo signs of the Egyptian goose for me.Plus the usuals around.

Afternoon visit usual suspects at car park end walk up to weir 21+Mandarin, Egyptian Goose was on the pond area of the canal near the old barge on the way back near the cottage before garden centre were 4 very smart Muscovy Duck I have never seen them like this where have these come from any ideas people???

Dropped in to shelter from the foul weather in the cafe. Quick look showed a single goosander on boat club lake. The (?) Egyptian goose was sitting disconsolately up on the edge of the path, this meant I could test out the close focus on my new bins (Thanks FocalPoint!) and read its BTO ring (1044333). Is this well known, or worth reporting?

Without trawling through 11 pages of sightings I cannot be sure this hasn't been reported before:

The Egyptian Goose was hauled out on the bank near the model boat club area. It was metal ringed 1044333. I would assume it was ringed at Etherow but someone out there will know for certain. >Sand Martin young were hanging out of holes in the brick walls of the mill waiting to be fed and 1 Great Crested Grebe on the lodge.

My intention to photograph insects was unsuccessful. Must remember to put a memory card in the camera next time

Earlier in the afternoon (in addition to the above), there was a single raven over the park which hung around for about 5 minutes. Also drake goosander, a few sand martins, and a tantalising glimpse of what was near certainly a woodcock which rose from the ground near Sunny Corner (whilst I was not looking in that direction) and made off over the trees in a direct line away from me.

12 sand martins around the mills and lodge area. A pair of sparrowhawks way on high, one in display. Male goosander in flight, one dipper briefly near weir, and chiffchaffs/buzzards as expected. Across the road along the river, a willow warbler was heard very briefly, but not seen. This, I think, was my earliest ever for the county.

A couple of pieces of behaviour were quite interesting. One was noting mandarins 'diving' (for up to 20 seconds). I had always considered them a dabbler/grazer. The other was a coot steaming towards me across the pond in an aggressive manner, mute swan style, and its mate likewise. They did not leave the water though, and backed off when I made steps towards them. Never seen that before (it was not a pond where the birds are fed).